Will They Be Friends?

[princess-lozza]

Hey,
I recently saw fighter fish in my lfs with platys and was wondering if they would go with my Platys in my tank. I've read different things online, some saying they don't go with anything and others saying they go with some community fish. I think theyre really pretty and would love one. At the moment i've only got 2 female platys but am planning to add another male and a fighter fish. Is this a good idea? My tank is big enough to hold all these fish, its looking empty with only 2. lol.

What temperature do the fighter fish need? I heard they were hardy and some places say the minimum temp, is about 25. My tanks usually at 22/23, would they survive in this temperature.

Also, can i add underwater frogs to my community tank? what temperature do they need? do they have to have a dry area to climb up onto, or not?

Thanks

 

[hollyp0p]

I've been told platies and mollies are ok, guppies are a no-no...my male fighter lives ok in a community tank, but at the end of the day its down to each individual fish, luckily my fighter is very placid, never causes anyone else damage, but many are too agressive for community tanks....so if you're going to get one you need a back up plan, extra tank or way of sectioning off part of the current tank.
Because also some fish will nip or pick on the betta, I have neon tetra who some people keep fine with them, but mine fin nipped my fighter and had to go....i have some harlequin rasboras to replace them.
White cloud mountain minnows are good friends for bettas, corys, danios (mine loved, but are too active and stress some bettas out), tetra (watch for nipping), harlequin and hengels rasboras....

 

[funkycat]

how big is your tank?
African dwarf frogs should be fine, just make sure you dont get african clawed frogs those can grow huge and will eat all your fish.
They dont need an above land area and your temps should be fine with them.
They do need frozen bloodworms as food though.

 

[FishySarah]

Bettas are funny. They have different personalities.

I used to have a purple male betta. he was in a five gallon all by himself. I decided to introduce an otto catfish. Well, as soon as I put the poor otto in, my betta went after it like a guided missile. I have no doubt that if I hadn't removed the poor otto immediately, my betta would have killed it. I kept Leo in his five gallon alone for two years.

Now I have a new betta, and I decided to try him with a mate. So I put in a platy. The platy is about half-grown, under an inch, quite a bit smaller than the betta. Well, my betta pretty much ignores him, he has never been threatening. I have heard that platys work with bettas often. I think a lot of it comes down to the personality of the individual betta.

Guppies are a definite no no, bettas will pick on them. Some tetras and nearly all barbs will attack bettas and nip their fins. But I've heard good things about bettas and platys, and it seems to be working out for me.

The important thing is to have an alternate home for the betta just in case. A betta doesn't need a huge amount of room, but please don't just buy a bowl. There is a lot of controversy about exactly how much room a betta needs, whether he should have a filter, etc. I had two bettas, one in a filtered five gallon and one in an unfiltered two and a half gallon, and both seemed equally happy and healthy. Of course I changed the water in the unfiltered tank very frequently. I had both bettas for about two years and they died within a week or so of eachother. Since the average lifespan of a betta is two years, I think they did fairly well.

So if you have a second small tank as a back-up, or even a large critter keeper (thats' what I had for my one betta. It cost seven dollars, plus gravel and a silk plant, bringing the set-up to about twelve dollars.) I say go for it. Bettas are a lot of fun, they have more personality than most fish as well as being beautiful. Just remember to clean the water frequently, b.c. a small tank needs more water changes.

Best of luck!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

The main problems with mixing male betta's and community fish are;

a. Betta's vary a great deal personality-wise. Some betta's may co-exist fine with fish like platys, other times the betta will become territorial and try to evict the platys from the tank, chasing and nipping at them whenever it comes across them etc.

c. Most varieties of betta's have rather long finnage, and this weights them down, making them slow. Some fish, which are absolutely otherwise fine with other fish, may take advantage of the betta's slow swimming abilities and long finnage and pick on the betta. The same sort of thing often happens when mixing non-fancy goldfish with the slower swimming more fancy finned varieties of fancy goldfish- its not that the non-fancy goldfish are aggressive by nature, rather they are just taking advantage of the disadvantaged fancy goldfish etc.

d. Betta's come from a warm tropical habitat that has a very gentle flow/water current and planted habitat, this is the sort of environment they prefer the most. Most community fish that can (sometimes) be mixed with betta's prefer tanks with a stronger current/water flow in them, and most fish that thrive in this sort of habitat would pick on/fight with the betta or vice versa (like angelfish and gourami's and numerous types of tetras).
Pleco's can co-exist with betta's very happily however all pleco's require strong filtration as they all produce a lot of waste, so habitat-wise a betta and a pleco wouldn't be that great together, because if you don't filter the tank with a strong enough current the betta will be happy but the pleco poop will pile really bad in no time, but if you filter the tank quite strongly the pleco will be happy but the betta will tire out in the strong current etc.

e. Male betta's at the end of the day are solitary fish, they are happiest when kept on their own, in the wild they do not voluntarily mix with other fish and the only times they come into contact with their own kind is either to fight or mate (and even then mating often ends up with a bit of fighting between the male and female).


So basically, the most ideal and safest option for keeping a betta is to keep it in a tank of its own that is has some planting in it and a gentle water current etc . There aren't really any community fish i can think of that are 100% assured to live happily with a betta in its preferred habitat.

 

[FishySarah]

I think it also depends on the size of your tank. I have my betta in a five gallon, its pretty big. There is plenty of room for the betta and the platy to avoid one another, no overcrowding. I would never attempt a second fish in anything smaller.

And many of my bettas have been kept in filtered tanks. Yes, I know everyone says its a problem. But I have a little filter in the five gallon and I've kept several bettas in there over the years. They never seemed to be blown about, never had tears in their fins, seemed happy and healthy and all lived for nearly two years or more.

So I don't know. I think there are a lot of factors to consider.

 

[princess-lozza]

Thanks so much everyone for helping me. I don't want to make a bad decision.

I was thinking about adding the fighter fish to my 5.5 gallon tank, with the 2 female platys-Is that ok- I don't want to overstock? Its got a filter but if it affects her I've also got a 4g tank which i could move him/her to if they're not too friendly and also its got a different type of filter. Do you recommend i try and get a female one? Are they better tempered? How do i tell-lol. Is it the same as platys? There's no harm in trying if i have somewhere else for it to go, especially if they're in with more than 2 platys in my LFS.

Also, i was reading about other food you can feed platys- bloodworm and brine shrimp- and i looked in LFS and they had brine shrimp frozen all mashed together in a block. Is that the only way to get them? How do you give it to them? Can you grow sea-monkeys and feed them to your fish live? or is that cruel-lol? Sorry If i don't ask ill never know.

Thanks again